Discussion: Lighter Bats vs Heavier Bats

Lighter Bats vs Heavier BatsSo as not to Hijack the other thread. Lighter vs Heavier. Different eras different technology. You could not break the bats in the 70 & 80's no matter what the weight. My observations do not consider weather conditions, balls or different technology.

I believe in swinging the heaviest bat you can and still maintain bat speed. F=Mass X Speed. It the most simplistic form 26oz bat x 100 MPH = 2600 30oz x 90 = 2700. Thus should result in the ball flying further and faster. Add batters weight 205 at 100 as opposed to 275 at 90....20660 v 24918

It still breaks down into your individual ability to swing a certain oz bat at a certain speed. In my individual case a lighter bat results in my top hand rolling over too quickly and thus I don't square it up.

Durability, The more force applied to the point of impact to a specific type of material will result in a shorter life expectancy of that material.

Bottom line - what ever is successful for the individual is what they should do, however they should not be upset when their bat only last 500 swings instead of 2000. Again personal opinion and not completely scientific fact.

Well I'm not a big fan of fiberglass bats, always used metal bats and have a slow swing and not a home run hitter base hit double kinda guy , so for me I swing a 34inch 30oz ssest worth(recertified) or a 34inch 29oz redline easton.

So I guess bottom line is what are you looking for and comfortable with for a swing. I've never hit a homer like to hit opposite field so i dont need alot of fire just lift it over the infield .

I could not agree more with using a heavy bat for more speed on the basehits and distance on hrs. I think there is less rebound on the hit and it allows more mass to carry thru the ball..What I have found as I aged as a senior ..and bp partners agreed...is that our mechanics are better than when we were younger, we have alot more mass in the hips and midsection (good for hitting but bad for the figure,lol) and alot of us seem to get better performance out of a 30oz bat. I know I don't swing as fast as I did when young but feel mass and mechanics allow the swinging of a heavier bat with good results.

Great points by all. In the old days you had to worry about the bats denting. Occassionally an aluminum bat would crack but not break like now. It sounds a lot like some personal preferences are key. Bottom line is you have to use what works best for you. I think a heavier bat may last longer but not really sure about that either. I personally prefer to maintain as much bat speed through the hitting zone as I can. I use a lot more wrist in my swing than some of the long boys so the lighter weight helps me out and my bat speed hasn't diminished that much over the years. Sometimes I might even start out a tournament a little heavier and drop down as the tournament goes on and I get more tired. This helps me throughout the tournament especially when we play a lot of games.

i'm one of those lite bat users,lot of wrist action too,like 33.i've used a lite bat since the begining of time.ray demarini did a tape about it.he says you need to swing a bat weight that will let you maintain your bat speed after contact with the ball.he said he could swing bat wieghts 26 thru 29 oz the same dry swing speed,but his after contact speed dropped off quite a bit with all wieghts but 26 oz,so his choice for him was a 26 oz to swing.i know its hard to do this with out a radar gun to get all your readings.

To illustrate some of the good points here - Through my career I developed into a base hitter, mostly off-field, hitting the ball low and late in the zone, 30oz or more bats! In 25 years hit only 2 HR over 285' fences on perfect days.

In 2009, using 28oz Sr Combat or 27oz Ultra II, standing up in the box and hitting the ball at eye-level I've hit a few. I'm 5'8" and 195lbs. With help I've learned that leverage and the resulting bat speed are keys for me. Thanks TP! I'm having fun now!

I also agree with swinging a heavy bat. My MM is a 30el and also have a 29el that will replace the 30 when it breaks. I bought the 30 in June of 2008 and it is still going strong. I also have a 30 Freak Plus and a 29 Freak Plus.
A couple of years ago I tried swinging 28's and didn't see any improvement so after those broke I replaced them with 29's and 30's.
I have a Swing Speed radar and have tried to measure bat speed after ball contact. So far I haven't be able to do that. That would be great if someone could manage that!

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